First Scouting Report: Kentucky vs. Virginia Tech in the Belk Bowl
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UK in the 2019 Belk Bowl
The University of Kentucky will play Virginia Tech in the 2019 Belk Bowl on Dec. 31. Read more about the Wildcats’ opponent and destination.
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An early look ahead to Kentucky’s appearance in the Belk Bowl:
The opponent
Kentucky (7-5, 3-5 SEC) will face Virginia Tech (8-4, 5-3 ACC) at the Bank of America Stadium (capacity 75,412) in Charlotte, N.C. The Belk Bowl will kick off at noon and be telecast by ESPN.
Virginia Tech ended its season with a 39-30 road loss to Virginia on Nov. 29 that snapped a 15-game Hokies’ win streak over their archrival and gave the Cavaliers the ACC Coastal Division title over Tech.
Series history
Kentucky leads the all-time series 11-6-2, although Virginia Tech has won three of the four most recent meetings.
Most recent meeting
Kentucky star running back Mark Higgs ran for 168 yards and a touchdown and a stingy UK defense sacked Virginia Tech quarterback Erik Chapman seven times as the Wildcats ground out a 14-7 victory over the Hokies at Commonwealth Stadium on Oct. 31, 1987.
Bowl histories
Kentucky is 9-9 all-time in bowl games and will be making its fourth straight postseason appearance. The Wildcats snapped a four-game bowl losing streak with a 27-24 victory over No. 12 Penn State in last season’s VRBO Citrus Bowl.
Mark Stoops is 1-2 in bowl games as Kentucky head coach.
Virginia Tech is 13-19 all-time in bowl games and has played in the postseason every year since 1993. The Hokies have lost their past two bowls, falling 35-31 to Cincinnati in last season’s Military Bowl in Annapolis, Md., and losing 30-21 to Oklahoma State in the 2017 Camping World Bowl in Orlando, Fla.
The Hokies’ most recent postseason victory came in the Belk Bowl, a 35-24 win over Arkansas in 2016.
Justin Fuente is 1-2 in bowl games as Virginia Tech head man and 2-2 overall as a head coach.
Know your foe
1. The Belk Bowl will be the final game for venerable Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster. A native Kentuckian (Somerset) and a Murray State graduate, Foster, 60, has been a Virginia Tech assistant since 1987. He has been running the Hokies’ defense since 1995, first for longtime Tech head man Frank Beamer until 2015 and for Justin Fuente since 2016.
2. At least until the Virginia loss, Foster’s defense was playing lights out. Tech had back-to-back shutouts against Georgia Tech (45-0, Nov. 16) and Pittsburgh (28-0, Nov. 23). The Hokies’ “D” also played well in a 21-20 loss at No. 16 Notre Dame (Nov. 2) and a 36-17 win over No. 22 Wake Forest (Nov. 9).
3. After a 2-2 start, the Virginia Tech season turned when the Tech offensive brain trust installed redshirt sophomore Hendon Hooker as starting quarterback. Tech is 6-1 with Hooker as its primary QB (he missed the loss at Notre Dame with a reported leg injury).
A dual threat, the 6-foot-4, 228-pound product of Greensboro, N.C., has thrown for 1,445 yards and 11 touchdowns while completing 62.1 percent of his passes and throwing only two interceptions. Hooker has also ran for 306 yards and five TDs.
This story was originally published December 8, 2019 at 5:42 PM.
